The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, is under investigation for alleged inappropriate communication with a woman at the center of the sex scandal involving former CIA Director David Petraeus, a senior U.S. defense official said on Tuesday.

The shocking revelation threatens to fell another of the U.S. military's biggest names and suggests that the scandal involving Petraeus - a retired four-star general who had Allen's job in Afghanistan before moving to the CIA last year - could expand much further than previously imagined.

The U.S. official said the FBI uncovered between 20,000 and 30,000 pages of communications - mostly emails and spanning from 2010 to 2012 - between Allen and Jill Kelley, who has been identified as a long-time friend of the Petraeus family and a Tampa, Florida, volunteer social liaison with military families at MacDill Air Force Base.

Mr. Wife commented that he sends/receives about 12,000 emails per year at work, or 50-60 per day, and suggested that only a small part of those the FBI uncovered were actual communications between the general and Mrs. Kelley.

#7
If some jerk sends 30,000 pages of e-mail to me.
1) they are classified as spam by me and go directly to the spam folder without being read.
2) I drop that e-mail account and make a new one.
3) If it doesn't quit you get a court order against them.

#11
...problem is that unlike the German culture of blind obedience, the real power of the US military lies with its middle grade officers and NCOs. Try to do what the others have done in using the military against its population will result in fracturing the services. You really don't want the competent middle grades against you, in or out of active duty.

[An Nahar] The European Union...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... announced Monday that it is suspending 20 million euros in aid for Afghanistan, warning that cash will be increasingly conditional on the government sticking to agreed reforms.

Payment of the 20 million euros ($25 million), aimed at reforming the justice system, was deferred because of a lack of progress on the issue, EU ambassador Vygaudas Usackas said.

He was speaking at the signing of a 60 million euros financing agreement on "efficient and effective governance" and "justice for all" with Afghan Finance Minister Omar Zakhiwal.

"If the European Union is deeply committed in supporting Afghanistan, it needs to stress that in the spirit of the Tokyo agreement support will be increasingly conditional of the delivery of the Afghan government on the agreed reform agenda," Usackas said.

Donor nations meeting in Tokyo in July pledged $16 billion for Afghanistan through 2015 to prevent the country from sliding into turmoil when foreign combat troops depart in 2014, but called on Kabul to implement reforms to fight graft.

The EU and member states had pumped 1.2 billion euros a year into supporting Afghanistan's development over the past decade and were committed to maintaining at least that level after the withdrawal of NATO...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... troops, Usackas said.

[An Nahar] International peacekeepers on Monday expressed grave concern about an upsurge of violence in Sudan's Darfur, after they airlifted people maimed in recent festivities.

The fighting on Friday between government forces and "an armed group" near Shangil Tobay "is part of a larger pattern of conflict in the area in recent months," said the African Union...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...-United Nations...a formerly good idea gone bad... Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).

"The escalating violence has become a matter of grave concern" to the mission, it said in a statement.

Rebels from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) said earlier that on Friday they attacked a large government convoy traveling north from Shangil Tobay, which is about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of El Fasher, the state capital of North Darfur.

They said they captured one armored vehicle and destroyed others, while seizing trucks and cars as well as equipment, weapons and ammunition.

JEM said its forces worked with the Sudan Liberation Army's Minni Minnawi faction in the attack which "captured a number of government troops" and inflicted heavy losses.

[Shabelle] A politician in Somali parliament has accused Kenyan military serving under AMISOM and Ras Kamboni fighters of committing crimes against humanity in Kismayo city.

MP Abdullahi Husein Ali said while giving an exclusive interview with Shabelle Media in Mogadishu Ras Kamboni private army led by Sheikh Ahmed Madobe backed by Kenyan troops are responsible the ongoing robbery and insecurity in Kismayo.

Mr. Hussein urged Somali government officials,naming president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud to act swiftly to intervene in the current uncertainty situation and prevent the allied forces from harassing residents in Kismayo. He warned of clan fighting, ensuing unrest.

The Central Intelligence Agency denied charges Sunday that its annex in Benghazi, Libya secretly held a few jihadi prisoners until it was destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2012 attack. Paula Broadwell, the girlfriend then-CIA chief Gen. David Petraeus, made that claim during an Oct. 26 speech in Denver, Colo.

"I don't know if a lot of you have heard this, but the CIA annex had actually had taken a couple of Libyan militia members prisoner. And they think that the attack on the consulate was an effort to try to get these prisoners back," Broadwell declared during the speech, at the University of Denver.

The CIA's denial came just hours after Arutz Sheva, an Israeli news outlet, first published a partial transcript of Broadwell's speech. By midnight Sunday, intelligence reporters with both The Daily Beast and The Washington Post were reporting and tweeting, respectively, that the CIA said her claim was false.

An agency spokesperson told The Daily Beast that "[t]he CIA has not had detention authority since January 2009, when Executive Order 13491 was issued. Any suggestion that the Agency is still in the detention business is uninformed and baseless."

One possible explanation, The Daily Beast wrote, is that Broadwell was confused about a report she had heard that day on the Fox News Channel.

"According to a source on the ground at the time of the attack," Fox News' Jennifer Griffin reported Oct. 26, "the team inside the CIA annex had captured three Libyan attackers and was forced to hand them over to the Libyans. U.S. officials do not know what happened to those three attackers and whether they were released by the Libyan forces."

Champ and his people have previously said that we're not holding prisoners anywhere except Gitmo and Bagram. If that turns out not to be true it's quite a game-changer. Too bad we didn't know about it before the election...

[Al Ahram] Egyptian tourism coalition threatens to sue President Morsi over 'lack of response' to Salafist leader's statement they would destroy Pyramids and Sphinx as they did Buddha statues in Afghanistan

#3
I haven't tried to analyze the hydraulics of an Aswan 'removal' - while it would clearly wreack havoc with the communities and cities all along the Nile (90% of the population?) would the flooding Nile still have the velocity for catastrophic erosion or would it clog its channel (braided stream morphology) and spread out over the breadth of the flood plain and slow down & soak in?

[An Nahar] Mauritania warned Monday that the fallout from a military strike against the Islamist faceless myrmidons controlling northern Mali could be devastating and affect the troubled country's neighbors.

"This country which has for a long time been seen as a model of democracy is like a volcano about to erupt," national assembly president Messaoud Ould Boulkheir said a day after West African leaders gave the green light to sending 3,300 troops to northern Mali to wrest control from the Islamists.

"If this volcano awakens, it will dump incandescent ashes over its neighbors," he told parliament.

"As we share a common border and since the interests of our peoples are closely interwoven, our country cannot just stand by," he added.

Following Sunday's summit of West African leaders in the Nigerian capital Abuja, experts cautioned that military intervention would still be months away.

Leaders from the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met at the summit to set out a blueprint for military action in Mali's north, but would not rule out dialogue to resolve the crisis -- even though they said force might be necessary given the turban threat.

[Yemen Post] The Yemeni authorities have released six Yemenis who were placed in long-term storageYez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! in late October while landing in the country coming from Iraq, National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms (HOOD) said in a statement on Monday.

The six were released by the Iraqi authorities and deported to their country in late October, and on their arrival, the Yemeni intelligence system held them at Sanaa International Airport.

"Their release took place on Monday after the authorities failed to charge them," the statement said, adding that the release was on guarantees that their families will bring them to the authorities upon demand.

During their release, the authorities barred journalists from picturing the Yemeni citizens, an activist was quoted by Almasdar Online as saying.

In a previous statement, HOOD said some 16 Yemeni citizens are still juggedMaw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! in Iraq including two women and a young man sentenced to death.

#4
From what I have read, the FBI grossly violated the "minimization" rule/standard for invading personal privacy - which is the same rule that forces law enforcement officers to discontinue listening to private conversations on wiretapped phones, if the topic of the conversation is obviously personal, and not clearly related to the criminal justification for the wiretap "invasion" of privacy.

My prediction: the focus of the scandal is going to shift to Jill Kelly - and she is going to end up being the real criminal and espionage story behind this whole escapade.

#6
One thing I found interesting was this from the ABC:One result is that Petraeus could possibly face military prosecution for adultery if officials turn up any evidence to counter his apparent claims that the affair began after he left the military.
Could one of you military people clarify?

#9
One result is that Petraeus could possibly face military prosecution for adultery if officials turn up any evidence to counter his apparent claims that the affair began after he left the military.
Could one of you military people clarify?
Posted by tipper

Adulty is punishable under the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice). Even though now retired, he could be recalled and charged. If the relationship never resulted in actual adultry, he could still be found to have had what is referred to as an "inapporpriate relationship" or "conduct unbecoming". I doubt he'll face any of this however.

Appears they (DoJ) are going after Broadwell with a vengence. I can see her deep concern for the potential of Petreaus and DoD "taking one" for the Obama team. I can also see her contacts within the military community providing classified e-mails which might exhonerate Petreaus and DoD.

Botton line: Lawyering up is the way to go at this point. I fear for the safekty of all of these people. The David Kelly story still lingers in the back of my mind.

#11
EC, Not going to happen. Look at Clinton and Nixon. If the evidence is overwhelming, Democrat elders will get O to resign. But with the MSM in his pocket, that much evidence is unlikely to come to light. He will be convicted by history.

#15
We have impeached Presidents but never convicted them in the Senate. I think politicians are afraid that if we did impeach and convict a president, that it might spill over to them and start a landslide effect. That is the racial factor also, the first black president will not be impeached here. Politicians don't want to see the cities burn.

* Gen Petraeus can be the new roadshow manager for Tiger Woods.
* The FBI can start a male pin-up calendar to bring in more funding.
* And Jill Kelley can pick up where Heidi Fleiss left off. Things have been very quiet in L.A. lately - we could use the action :-)

[Bangla Daily Star] The Pakistain Army's legal branch has concluded that there is no scope for the military to try former army chief Gen Mirza Aslam Beg...occasionally incoherent retired four-star general who was the Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army, succeeding the creepy General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, after the latter was rubbed out died in an air crash in 1988. The general was involved up to his hairy ears in the Mehran bank scandal, shuffling millions in public money to buy or lease politicians, and is believed one of the prime movers in the sale of Pak nuclear technology to Iran. He ranks second only to Hamid Gul in the volume and flavor of his anti-Western vitriol.. and former ISI chief Lt Gen Asad Durrani for paying millions of rupees to politicians to rig the 1990 general election, a media report said yesterday.

In a preliminary report presented to army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI..., the legal branch concluded that the two retired generals could not be tried under the Army Act following the Supreme Court's order holding them responsible for the rigging of the polls.

[Dawn] The members of both houses of the parliament, the National Assembly and the Senate, on Monday feared a conspiracy to pit Shia and Sunni community of Bloody Karachi...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... against each other to mar peace on the occasion of Muharram, urging the government to control the situation through deweaponization.

Speaking on a point of order in the lower house, Pakistain Mohammedan League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Sahibzada Fazal Karim mentioned an attack on a caravan against the desecration of Prophet Muhammad ((PTUI!)) and said the federal and provincial governments have not taken any step to maintain law and order situation in the city despite the matter was repeatedly raised in the house.

He said certain elements were spreading Talibanization in the name of religion and demanded formation of a judicial commission to probe the attack on the religious procession.

Maulana Attaur Rehman of Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability...-Fazl (JUI-F), mentioning killing of students of a seminary in Bloody Karachi, said the incident was not given due importance just because of their association with the seminary.

He demanded the government to provide security cover to seminaries besides extending other facilities as have been provided to colleges and universities.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... (MQM) MNA Wasim Akhtar also raised the issue of law and order situation in the Sindh capital and said military leadership should take notice of the worsening situation, before it turns out of control.

He said the people are being targeted killed and kidnapped for ransom but the federal and provincial governments have yet to take any effective remedial measures.

Meanwhile,...back at the sandwich shop, Caroline was experimenting with ingredients of increasing volatility...politicians in the upper house of parliament (Senate) also resumed discussion on a motion regarding law and order situation, murders and sectarian violence in Balochistan...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it..., Bloody Karachi and Gilgit-Baltistan on Monday.

The resolution was moved by Senator Col (r) Tahir Hussain Mashhadi on September 6.

Resuming the discussion, Abdul Ghafoor Haidri of JUI said that situation in Bloody Karachi was deteriorating with every passing day. Referring to the recent killings in the city, he said that students of a seminary, became victim of a terrorist attack but their murderers have not yet been incarceratedYouse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! and no one has taken any notice.

Before the incident, he said the rangers had raided another seminary, Ashraful Madaris, in Bloody Karachi without any reason. He said there was an urgent need to take strict measures to stop such incidents.

Zahid Khan of ANP regretted the killing incidents in Bloody Karachi, Quetta and Gilgit-Baltistan. He seconded Abdul Ghafoor Haidri and said that no raid should be carried out without any solid proof.

He said that Bloody Karachi should be deweaponized before 'Ashoora' and all the political parties should support it to check murders.

Senator Mohsin Laghari said that Sindh government instead of taking help from rangers should strengthen police. He also suggested enhancing number of police personnel at cop shoppes and in the field.

He said in Balochistan, Frontier Constabulary (FC) was doing the duty of police adding that situation would only improve when every department performed its own duties. He said the Learned Elders of Islam (holy mans) should also condemn the sectarian killings to stop violence.

[Dawn] Minister for Interior Rehman MalikPak politician, Interior Minister under the Gilani government. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. He had to give up the interior ministry job because he held dual Brit citizenship. on Monday said that an 'invisible force' was engaged in disrupting peace in Bloody Karachi...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... and Quetta on sectarian basis, but it would not succeed in its negative plans against the country.

Speaking to media representatives after a meeting with religious Learned Elders of Islam (holy men) belonging to different schools of thoughts, Malik said that there was no sectarian clash in the two cities but 'some enemies of the country' were trying to give it a sectarian colour.

The law enforcement agencies are gathering information and soon the names of those, who are indulged in such negative activities, will be revealed, he added.

He said that the basic objective of meeting Learned Elders of Islam was to formulate a strategy to control law and order situation, especially during Moslem holy month of Muharram.

Announcing the decisions taken during the meeting, Maulana Hanif Jalandhari said that all the Learned Elders of Islam will play a positive role for the promotion of religious harmony during Muharram and will avoid hurting sentiments of people belonging to different schools of thought.

He said that there was a consensus among the Learned Elders of Islam that the gunnies were the enemies of Islam, humanity and Pakistain.

He said the meeting also appealed to the print and electronic media not to publish or telecast provocative reports and statements, and also avoid issuing disheartening material.

He said the meeting decided that a religious solidarity committee, having members from all the sects, will be constituted.

The meeting condemned the killing of students of a Madrassa (seminary) in Bloody Karachi.

It was also decided that the government would provide security to the Madaris and mosques in the country. Raids on Madaris would be avoided and if required, those should be conducted in consultation with the Madrassa administrator, said the interior minister.

[Dawn] Jamaat-e-Islami...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... (JI) Ameer (chief) Syed Munawar Hasan has expressed deep concern over the surge in murders in Bloody Karachi...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous..., alleging that the rulers are protecting the killers, extortionists and the drug mafia.

In a press statement on Sunday, Mr Hasan said that usually over a dozen of people were being bumped off in Bloody Karachi every day as the government had no writ in the port city. Target killers were doing their job freely and then disappeared from the scene as if they never existed.

It was unfortunate that the government had issued arms licenses to murderers, hit mans and criminals because of its vested interests, he added.

He said the administration and the agencies were unable to apprehend the killers because they enjoyed the protection of the people in power. He said Interior Minister Rehman MalikPak politician, Interior Minister under the Gilani government. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. He had to give up the interior ministry job because he held dual Brit citizenship. would release the news of arrest of one or two killers in the past but no body knew their fate. He said their patrons got them freed from the clutches of law. Mr Hasan said that recently the Supreme Court had taken note of the release of 35 major hit mans on parole and ordered their re-arrest, but the rulers immediately whisked them out of the country. --

[Dawn] Pakistain on Monday was elected to the United Nations...a formerly good idea gone bad... Human Rights Council, an intergovernmental body within the UN system.

Pakistain, which had the endorsement of the Asia Group, polled 171 votes, when 97 were required.

"Pakistain's politicianship, parliament and judiciary have all proactively pushed the human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... agenda," Ambassador Masood Khan said.

"Our membership of the Human Rights Council acts as a catalyst for higher attention to human rights back home," he said.

"Our entire leadership, all political forces and national institutions support promotion and protection of human rights. We have put human rights as a top priority on our national agenda," Ambassador Khan added.

[An Nahar] Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas told Arab foreign ministers gathered in Cairo on Monday that the Palestinian Authority will present its bid for non-state membership of the United Nations on November 29.

Following talks with Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, "it has been agreed that the request will be presented on November 29," Abbas said, calling for support from Arab states.

Approximately 50 students and one teacher affiliated with an Islamic boarding school and allegedly involved in terrorist activities were taken into police custody on Tuesday.

According to Antaranews.com, dozens of fully-armed police officers raided the Pondok Darul Akhfiya school in the Kepuh village of the Nganjuk district in East Java. Besides hauling in students, officers also arrested Nasiruddin Ahmad, also known as Landung Tri Bawono, the teacher at the institution.

Nganjuk police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Anggoro Sukartono told Okezone.com that police were still trying to determine whether or not the students were being trained to be terrorists.

A local resident commented that people who live in the surrounding area of the school regularly witnessed students participating in martial arts training during the morning and evening.

"They often exercised and practiced martial arts. They even have a space that looks like a military training field behind the school," Maryono, one of the locals, said, as quoted by Antaranews.com. "We suspect they are members of a terrorist network."

Maryono said that students of the school are high school-aged and are from several different regions, such as Banyuwangi, Pasuruan and Ambon.

Nasiruddin denied the allegations and claimed that he only teaches the students about Islam.

"We're not teaching terrorism, but only religious studies, as other Islamic boarding schools do," Nasiruddin said. "Besides that, we teach them martial arts."

Police have not let journalists investigate the scene further, but a reliable source told Antaranews.com that police found many books about jihad and air guns on the premises.

Islam, martial arts and air guns. Just a pious boarding school. A heavily-armed, pious boarding school...

[An Nahar] Hizbullah Secretary-General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan NasrallahThe satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... on Monday accused "some of March 14's Christians" of "seeking a Sunni-Shiite conflict in Leb," rejecting the formation of a neutral or technocrat cabinet and calling on the March 14 camp to engage in dialogue "if they want a unity government."

"All indications confirm that some parties in the country are conspiring with foreign forces to push the country towards an kaboom," said Nasrallah in a televised address marking Hizbullah's Martyr Day.

"On Martyr Day, I stress that we will carry on with our efforts, preparedness to defend our country and the improvement of our capabilities. Let no one think that the events in the region can affect the ResistanceThat'd be the Hezbullies, natch...'s resolve and efforts," said Nasrallah.

"Some Lebanese parties believe that blowing up Leb would serve certain interests. They want a Sunni-Shiite conflict and I'm specifically referring to some of March 14's Christians," he added.

Hizbullah's leader voiced rejection of calls by the March 14 forces to form a neutral government or a technocrat government.

"There is a legitimate and constitutional government that is pursuing its duties and speaking of a neutral government is meaningless in a country where no one is neutral. A technocrat government has no place in a country that is political par excellence," said Nasrallah.

[An Nahar] President Michel Suleiman...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... demanded on Monday security and judiciary officials to detain the suspects who were responsible for the festivities that erupted the day before at the southern port city of Sidon and to take the necessary measures to control the situation in the area.

"We must be aware not to slip over into sedition," Suleiman said.

He warned of the negative repercussions of sedition on stability and civil peace "at a time that Lebanese foes agreed to abide by the Baabda Declaration."

The Baabda Declaration was reached during the first national dialogue session that was held in June after a 19-month absence.

The Declaration, issued on June 11, calls for political and media calm in Leb, supporting the army, and keeping Leb away from regional and international disputes.

Suleiman held talks with Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, who briefed him on the measures taken by the Internal Security Forces in Sidon to control the situation in the city.

He also met with Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji, who stressed that the army has taken all the necessary steps to maintain stability in the area.

A gunbattle erupted between Hizbullah supporters and Salafist holy man Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir in the Taamir Ain al-Hilweh neighborhood over posters promoting the party, killing three people and injuring seven others.

On Friday, Asir gave an ultimatum to Hizbullah supporters in the city to take down all posters promoting the party. But they "rejected" prompting the Salafist holy man and his supporters to head to the Taamir neighborhood and rip down a poster of Hizbullah chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan NasrallahThe satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb....

(CNN) -- The spiraling scandal that took down former CIA Director David Petraeus has apparently ensnared another powerful general, as authorities announced that Gen. John Allen is under investigation for allegedly sending inappropriate messages to Jill Kelley, a woman who has been linked to the Petraeus scandal.

Allen, who is the commander of NATO's...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... International Security Assistance Force, has denied any wrongdoing, a senior defense official said.

Details of the latest angle of the scandal that has shaken the highest level of the military were sketchy early Tuesday.

Some details about Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, came from an overnight statement by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993...., while he was on his way to Australia.

"On Sunday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation referred to the Department of Defense a matter involving General John Allen, Commander of the International Security Assistance Force (or ISAF) in Afghanistan," part of the statement said.

"Today, the secretary directed that the matter be referred to the Inspector General of the Department of Defense for investigation."

A defense official told CNN there is a "distinct possibility" that the investigation into Allen is connected to the investigation that led to the resignation of Petraeus.

Allen will still retain his position as the commander of ISAF as the investigation continues, the Pentagon said.

But Panetta asked that Allen's nomination to become NATO's supreme allied commander be put on hold, the statement said.

The confirmation hearing to see if Allen would get that lofty military post was scheduled for Thursday.

Also President B.O. has nominated Gen. Joseph Dunford to succeed Allen in his position at ISAF, and Panetta has urged the Senate to move quickly on the nomination.

The investigation into Allen was in its early stages but authorities were looking into some 20,000 to 30,000 pages of documents, the defense official said.

It was not immediately clear Tuesday exactly how Allen may be linked to the Petraeus investigation.

Petraeus, 60, resigned Friday after acknowledging he had an affair with a woman later identified as his biographer, Paula Broadwell, 40, a fellow West Point graduate who spent months studying the general's leadership of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

The investigation into Petraeus came to light during an FBI investigation of "jealous" e-mails reportedly sent by Broadwell to a woman named Jill Kelley, a government source familiar with the investigation told CNN on Monday.

Now authorities say Allen was under investigation because of communications with Kelley.

Amid national talk about the Petraeus scandal, Kelley, 37, and her husband released a statement saying they have been friends with Petraeus and his family for more than five years and asked for privacy.

Petraeus Probe Could Affect Benghazi Inquiry

Days after Petraeus' resignation stunned Washington, Sherlocks were still gathering information about the four-star Army general who once ran the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

FBI agents were at the Charlotte, North Carolina, home of Petraeus' paramour late Monday, said local FBI spokeswoman Shelley Lynch. She declined to say what the agents were doing at Broadwell's home.

Also a video has surfaced of a speech by Broadwell in which she suggested the Libya attack on September 11 was targeting a secret prison at the Benghazi consulate annex, raising unverified concerns about possible security leaks.

"I don't know if a lot of you have heard this, but the CIA annex had actually taken a couple of Libyan militia members prisoner and they think that the attack on the consulate was an effort to get these prisoners back," said Broadwell in a speech last month at the University of Denver.

A senior intelligence official told CNN on Monday, "These detention claims are categorically not true. Nobody was ever held at the annex before, during, or after the attacks."

Broadwell's source for that previously unpublished bit of information remains unclear, and there's no evidence so far that it came from Petraeus.
Administration officials have said the Benghazi assault was a terrorist attack.

Along with questions about Broadwell's access, the Petraeus' scandal also presents challenges to the congressional inquiry into the Benghazi attack.

Petraeus recently traveled to Libya to meet the CIA station chief to discuss the attack, CNN has confirmed. He was scheduled to testify before a congressional committee this week on the assault and the U.S. government response to it.
That now will not happen, but it is possible that he could be summoned by Congress to testify later.

Some Republicans have criticized the administration's response to the Benghazi attack and have speculated that Petraeus' departure was linked to the congressional inquiry.

Rep. Peter King...U.S. Representative for New York's 3rd (central Long Island) congressional district, serving since 1993. He is of the Publican persuasion and is known for his active support for the IRA Irish republican movement..., R-New York, said elements of the story "don't add up." He called Petraeus "an absolutely essential witness, maybe more than anybody else."

However,today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... a senior U.S. official said Petraeus' departure wasn't connected to the Benghazi hearing.

"Director Petraeus' frank and forthright letter of resignation stands on its own," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. "Any suggestion that his departure has anything to do with criticism about Benghazi is completely baseless."

The Affair and the e-mails

Broadwell and Petraeus first met in 2006 at Harvard University...home of the Best and the Brightest, contributed $878,164 to the 2008 Obama campaign. Is there a reason universities are among the top financiers of political campaigns?'s Kennedy School of Government, where she was a student, Broadwell wrote in the preface of the biography she co-authored on Petraeus.

She told him about her interest in studying military leadership, and he offered his help.

"I later discovered that he was famous for this type of mentoring and networking, especially with aspiring soldier-scholars," Broadwell wrote.

She traveled to Afghanistan, where she interviewed Petraeus repeatedly.

The actual affair began about two months after Petraeus took over at the CIA in September 2011, according to one Petraeus friend.

It ended about four months ago, and the two last talked about a month ago, the friend said.

The decision to end the relationship was mutual, the friend said
But at some point Broadwell also exchanged e-mails with Kelley.

The FBI joined the investigation when Kelley complained that Broadwell was sending harassing e-mails to her in May, a U.S. official told CNN.

According to a source with knowledge of the e-mails, the messages accused Kelley of untoward behavior with some generals at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida where Kelley did volunteer work.

The e-mails detailed the "comings and goings of the generals and Ms. Kelley," said the source, who declined to speak on the record because of sensitivity of the investigation.

Among those believed to be referenced in the e-mails was Petreaus.

But now it seems that there are more, potentially damaging e-mails, that hold information about Allen, a four-star general who took over as the commander of the war effort in Afghanistan last year.

A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.